


Codependence

by makkurataichou



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Angst?, M/M, also inspired by Bloodborne, hurt/comfort?, inspired by bagel's fear AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 11:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9069697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makkurataichou/pseuds/makkurataichou
Summary: Drabble. For one fleeting moment, they allow themselves to be selfish and imagine a world where beasts no longer prowl bloodstained streets and people no longer succumb to malevolence.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by [bagel](https://twitter.com/ghostofcrux)'s fear AU. I wrote this when I was really tired so it's _super_ self indulgent, but I also wanted to put it up here for documentation purposes. I hope you, uh, enjoy?

Sorey bursts through the door, gasping for breath.

The house is dark and empty, much like the rest of the town. Debris covers the floor—remnants of a once-well-to-do family’s possessions—and the walls are covered in dried blood and at least two other substances he cannot identify. There are claw marks on the furniture, on the floor—just about everywhere. But none of them are fresh. Normally, Sorey would leave, knowing that his target lies elsewhere, but tonight he is not on the hunt.

After all, how can he hunt anymore after what just happened?

Sorey tries to force the memories to the back of his mind, but they seep through regardless; a steady stream trickling through his thoughts, arresting his senses. He tries to forget the screams, the agonizing pain that ripped through his body when the wolf clawed at his chest. He tries not to think of his companion’s terrified face as they both lay on the ground, helpless. He tries, and fails when his dearest one’s eyes flash in his mind—wide violet eyes filled with fear, longing, and desperation.

_ ‘Mikleo…’ _

The crunch of glass under his feet...the soot that gathers on his fingertips when he touches a nearby mantelpiece...he closes his eyes and tries to use his sharp ears and keen sense of smell instead of his mind. As a hunter, his ability to become one with his environment is unparalleled. He concentrates and hears heavy breathing coming from the master bedroom.

Moonlight seeps through the windows, bathing the broken bed and splintered wood on the ground in an ethereal white light. And in the corner of the room, Sorey finds him, his curled up form barely discernable where it lies wrapped in shadows.

“Mikleo…” Sorey whispers his name softly, reverently. A light-haired head snaps up and reptilian eyes stare back into his, wide and pained.

“S...Sorey,” he croaks. “Please...stay away from me.”

Almost as if to contradict his words, a clawed hand suddenly shoots out from within the darkness, grabbing at the planks of wood beneath them. Mikleo lets out a desperate cry, his other—still normal—hand reaching out to grab his other arm and hold it back.

Tears leak from his eyes and he bites down on his lower lip, trying to quell the murderous urges brewing deep within. “Sorey,” he repeats, urgently. “Get out of here,  _ now _ .”

“How can I, Mikleo?” Sorey shakes his head, taking a careful step forward. “How can I,” he repeats, his voice cracking slightly, “when I’m the reason you’re like this?”

Mikleo’s eyes grow wide. “No, Sorey, you can’t think like that. If you do, you’ll also—”

He stops when his body seizes up, letting out an agonizing howl. Sorey watches, horrified, as the sounds of ripping flesh and cracking bones fill the air. But he refuses to avert his gaze, even as grotesque arms sprout from Mikleo’s sides, scrabbling against the wooden floor.

“Don’t...don’t look at me, Sorey!” Mikleo sobs. “I refuse to let you get corrupted. I refuse—”

Sorey takes yet another step forward. Instantly, Mikleo is upon him, and in the stark moonlight Sorey finally sees what has become of his beloved companion. A multitude of arms simultaneously claw at him and caress him, grabbing urgently at his shoulders, pleading with him to listen while trying desperately not to rip him to shreds. A long serpentine tail rests against the floor where Mikleo’s legs should have been, slowly beginning to coil tightly around his feet. Haunted violet eyes, pupils like slits, stare right into his.

“Do you see now, Sorey?” he hisses. His voice is still the same as it has always been, but it sounds so unnatural, so  _ wrong _ coming from such a beastly form.

“Do you see what I am?” he asks. “Do you understand why I ran?”

Sorey stares back defiantly, refusing to move an inch. Mikleo’s tail coils more tightly around his legs, once, twice, and Sorey can feel the slimy-cool texture of the scales through his pants. Yet, he does not flinch. This is still Mikleo after all. His dear friend, his other half...his one and only. Sorey lifts a hand and places it on Mikleo’s cheek, taking him by surprise.

“I understand, Mikleo,” he says, lifting his other hand so he can cradle Mikleo’s face. “I know why you ran...you didn’t want me to see you like this.” He smiles in a way he hopes is comforting. “But you didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you?”

Mikleo sucks in a breath. “I-I see,” he chokes, finally averting his gaze. Sorey feels the tail wrapped around him ease its grip slightly, and he lowers his arms in response.

“Then...do it.” Mikleo struggles to keep his arms at his sides. “If you’re here to kill me, then I’m...I’m ready.”

Sorey grabs his shoulders, the weight of Mikleo’s words hitting him all-too hard. “No, Mikleo, I’m not going to kill you. I...I  _ can’t _ ,” he rasps, willing Mikleo to meet his gaze once again. “I came here to find you...please, come back with me. I can’t leave you alone here like this.”

He feels Mikleo’s shoulders tense beneath his hands. “I-if you wait too long, I might gouge your eyes out, Sorey,” he whispers darkly, his words strained. “I’m begging you, just make it quick—”

Warm lips press against Mikleo’s forehead, effectively cutting him off. Sorey kisses him there, atop his head, against the bridge of his nose. “I won’t leave you behind, Mikleo,” he insists, his eyes glassy. “And I won’t kill you either. We’ll find a cure for this, together.”

“There  _ is  _ no cure, Sorey!” Mikleo cries, and all his arms come up to beat against Sorey’s chest, trying to push him away. “You’ve seen the kind of medication this town has—all it does is delay the effects and worsen the symptoms! It’s no better than a common drug!”

“Maybe there isn’t a cure for humans, but you’re a seraph—”

“I  _ was _ a seraph, Sorey!” He looks down at his multiple hands, so many of them with minds of their own. “Now I’m just...just a beast. There’s no hope for me anymore.”

Sorey tightens his grip on Mikleo’s shoulders. Then, he lets go slowly.

“Then...there’s no hope for me either,” he says solemnly, mirthlessly. “This world is rotting, Mikleo, and you’re all I have. Without you, how can I keep going?”

“No, Sorey, don't say things like that-”

“I love you, Mikleo!” he cries, clutching at his own chest, right over his heart. “I love you...so much that it  _ hurts _ . It hurts to think of a world without you. I-I can't—”

He swallows. “I can’t live without you.”

“Sorey…” Mikleo crumples to the ground, grasping at the floorboards in a desperate attempt to stay upright. “Sorey, that's not fair…”

“I need you to  _ live _ , Mikleo,” he begs, kneeling down and wrapping shaking arms around his companion’s form. “Don't you see...I need you, I  _ need you _ , you're all I have—”

“Y-you can't just tie your existence to mine like that, Sorey, it...it isn't fair to either of us…”

“Even though that's all  _ you’ve  _ done ever since we were young?” Sorey stares him down. “Don't think I never noticed you sacrificing your dreams, your happiness, just so you could travel with me.”

“That...that’s different…”

“How is it any different?!” Sorey gives him an incredulous look. “You’ve always put yourself in danger when I’ve been involved. You never think of your own life!”

“I-I just want to protect you—”

“Then protect me, Mikleo.” He buries his face in Mikleo’s shoulder. “You said it yourself a long time ago, didn't you? We’re stuck with each other.” A muffled laugh escapes him, genuine this time. “So please...stay with me.”

The silence that follows is thicker than the malevolence resting in the gloom surrounding them. Then, careful yet hesitant arms come up to wrap around Sorey, no longer attempting to claw at his flesh.

“Okay,” comes Mikleo’s response, barely louder than Sorey’s heartbeat thudding urgently within his chest. “Okay, I’ll stay.”

Sorey feels tears soak into his shirt, and his grip on Mikleo tightens. “Thank you,” he whispers, biting back a sob. “Thank you, Mikleo.”

“Just don't...don't abandon me...please, Sorey, don’t leave me behind…”

Their mutual fear, unspoken for so many years, now hangs between them like a thick veil. They clutch each other close, huddled on the dirty floor. For one fleeting moment, they allow themselves to be selfish and imagine a world where beasts no longer prowl bloodstained streets and people no longer succumb to malevolence. A world that is not so ravaged by darkness and suffering and  _ fear _ .

“I love you,” Mikleo breathes when he finally has the courage to pull his head away from Sorey’s chest. He runs the back of a clawed hand along the side of Sorey’s face, and the hunter closes his eyes in response, letting out a soft breath. Mikleo leans in and hesitantly presses his lips to the corner of Sorey’s mouth, lingering there for a moment longer than necessary. He pulls away only slightly, their breaths mingling before Sorey closes the gap between them again with a chaste kiss, soft and tender.

They lie there on the floor, battered and defenseless, no longer caring whether the beasts take them in the morning. Because for now, in this moment, they have each other, and so it will remain for all eternity. Mikleo’s beastly form curls around Sorey, simultaneously protecting him and absorbing his warmth. Their hands join together in silent understanding, their foreheads pressed against each other in attempted comfort. 

“When we finally leave this dream, we’ll leave together, I promise,” Sorey whispers in Mikleo’s ear as his eyes begin to close. Mikleo says nothing in response, but in the light of the full moon, the scales covering his body recede ever so slightly.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally had a different ending planned for this fic...maybe I'll post it in an epilogue someday ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


End file.
